Joined the drop club today
- Thread starter Goodman4
- Start date
Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:
My Canyon Cages and saddle bag guards paid for themselves with the one tip over in my garage. I was moving it out of the way to get at my SuperTenere and somehow had a misstep, lost balance, FJR leaned to the right, I could not hold on and " had to lay her down" 
As a bonus I had the FZ-1 mirrors folded to 90 degrees so nothing made contact with ground but the Canyon cages. A couple of scratches on the guards that I quickly touched up with black mat paint and from a foot away it's not visible.
I, on the other hand, did not fare as well. The side stand base's edge somehow made a 2 inch cut on my leg shin.
As a bonus I had the FZ-1 mirrors folded to 90 degrees so nothing made contact with ground but the Canyon cages. A couple of scratches on the guards that I quickly touched up with black mat paint and from a foot away it's not visible.
I, on the other hand, did not fare as well. The side stand base's edge somehow made a 2 inch cut on my leg shin.
captaincautious
Well-known member
Dislocated my shoulder along with the fallover and the nausea of seeing my new bike damaged was almost too much. But after reading all of these other club members problems and knowing I'm not alone I feel much better! Nothing bonds better than misery.
palerider
Well-known member
ericgol
Member
'Twas my 39th day, less than 500 miles, moving off a parking lot sidewalk. A couple of case scratches, because who wants to let gravity win, right? Three months of physical therapy later, after the hot lights and cold steel for the spiral tibial plateau fracture (and some nice titanium with screws making me, now, bionic), I was at least able to sit on the bike again. Every day my mind is like "I don't want to go through that again", but I did have a near-drop again a few weeks ago. Seems like a nice FJR YouTube video on tips n tricks from some of you old timers may help some of us noobs. One key for me is not so much the weight centering, but the methodical slow and steady. I certainly find myself doing more K-turns nowadays.
Here are two tips for you newbie droppers:
In slow speed maneuvering you want to do exactly the opposite of what you do when riding on the street. You want to intentionally push the bike down into the slow speed turns and keep your body bolt upright and balanced. This is the same way that you ride on dirt, FWIW. The reason being that if the bike starts to go over (or slide out) for any reason you'll be in a better position to get out of the trouble.
My second tip, this from a three time FJR dropper (and surely more to come) is; when you think the fat girl's going over, just let her go and get the heck out of her way! Do not try to save it. It is a lot easier to pick the bike up later (using the proper back to the bike technique) when you don't have a broken knee. Plastic and paint is much cheaper than medical bills not to mention the pain and anguish that comes with them.
In slow speed maneuvering you want to do exactly the opposite of what you do when riding on the street. You want to intentionally push the bike down into the slow speed turns and keep your body bolt upright and balanced. This is the same way that you ride on dirt, FWIW. The reason being that if the bike starts to go over (or slide out) for any reason you'll be in a better position to get out of the trouble.
My second tip, this from a three time FJR dropper (and surely more to come) is; when you think the fat girl's going over, just let her go and get the heck out of her way! Do not try to save it. It is a lot easier to pick the bike up later (using the proper back to the bike technique) when you don't have a broken knee. Plastic and paint is much cheaper than medical bills not to mention the pain and anguish that comes with them.
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wheatonFJR
...
Yeah, I can just see the instruction video now.
"Newbies, this is how to drop yer FJR". With lot's of reverse angles and slow motion replays, etc.
Followed up by comments on how the video is "Lame ***", and how the sound quality sucks, and "No, that technique is wrong!", and "How dare you teach people how to drop an FJR!", and...
"Newbies, this is how to drop yer FJR". With lot's of reverse angles and slow motion replays, etc.
Followed up by comments on how the video is "Lame ***", and how the sound quality sucks, and "No, that technique is wrong!", and "How dare you teach people how to drop an FJR!", and...
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Goodman4
Pressing on
Good advice on getting out of the way. Sorry to hear about your leg fracture on your drop practice, Eric. It's hard to believe how much damage can be done to the muscles and bones on simple things like this. I thought I didn't hurt myself at all and four days later the wife says, "look at your leg" and I find I've got a 5" X 7" solid black bruise that looks like I had major trauma. I think it's just part of getting older that escalates the impact of every injury.
The scariest near drop I've had was earlier this year on our Blue Ridge Parkway trip. My wife and I rode a lot in Virginia and were staying in Pearisburg. I wanted to see what West Virginia looked like so we rode across the state line and it was four lanes to Princeton. There were lots of roads to the right that looked like they went up in the hills so I wanted to see what was there. I took one and quickly realized they turned to gravel up into the hills, so we turned around ASAP. But the balance thing got me and it was leaning a little more than I had thought as I started the K turn (or asterisk turn as mine ends up frequently being). There was a 10 foot ravine off on the right by where I was turning so I knew if we went over it was going to throw us down into it. I couldn't get the weight to balance back to the left and was slow rolling toward the ravine but the wheel was hard right. I knew if I braked hard it would throw all the weight harder to the right so I tried to squeeze the brake lightly and get the weight back with my leg. But it kept rolling and when I got to the edge of the ravine I had to pull the brake hard as the last option. My wife was leaning the other way enough and my leg somehow held. I was 90% sure it wasn't going to. In all my years of riding I think it was the scariest situation I've been in because of her being with me and how close I came to hurting both of us.
So I am committing to under-estimate my turn-around capabilities and if I ever find myself in anything questionable, I will let her off first and be ready to throw it down instead of being stubborn. Thanks for all the advice as always.
The scariest near drop I've had was earlier this year on our Blue Ridge Parkway trip. My wife and I rode a lot in Virginia and were staying in Pearisburg. I wanted to see what West Virginia looked like so we rode across the state line and it was four lanes to Princeton. There were lots of roads to the right that looked like they went up in the hills so I wanted to see what was there. I took one and quickly realized they turned to gravel up into the hills, so we turned around ASAP. But the balance thing got me and it was leaning a little more than I had thought as I started the K turn (or asterisk turn as mine ends up frequently being). There was a 10 foot ravine off on the right by where I was turning so I knew if we went over it was going to throw us down into it. I couldn't get the weight to balance back to the left and was slow rolling toward the ravine but the wheel was hard right. I knew if I braked hard it would throw all the weight harder to the right so I tried to squeeze the brake lightly and get the weight back with my leg. But it kept rolling and when I got to the edge of the ravine I had to pull the brake hard as the last option. My wife was leaning the other way enough and my leg somehow held. I was 90% sure it wasn't going to. In all my years of riding I think it was the scariest situation I've been in because of her being with me and how close I came to hurting both of us.
So I am committing to under-estimate my turn-around capabilities and if I ever find myself in anything questionable, I will let her off first and be ready to throw it down instead of being stubborn. Thanks for all the advice as always.
I learned that many years ago when I used to have a job moving safes. Nothing falls faster than a safe. They seem to have a special agreement with gravity.My second tip, this from a three time FJR dropper (and surely more to come) is; when you think the fat girl's going over, just let her go and get the heck out of her way! Do not try to save it. It is a lot easier to pick the bike up later (using the proper back to the bike technique) when you don't have a broken knee. Plastic and paint is much cheaper than medical bills not to mention the pain and anguish that comes with them.
jjp4674
Well-known member
My only drop so far had to have been perhaps one of the most embarrassing ways possible. I flew out to Phoenix to buy FJRTom's '08 and he had it parked in his hangar on the center stand. As I'm taking it down off the center stand, I -completely- mis-judge the weight of the bike and it falls away from me...right in front of him.
I felt so bad. "Man, that ******* buys my baby and the first thing he does is tip it over."
Fortunately, it'd seen a few drops already, so it was no worse after my drop than it was before my drop, and with 83k (at the time, now almost 87k) miles on it, I figure it should have some scratches to show it was loved anyway. Though I still haven't put it back up on the center stand...and am secretly afraid to.
I felt so bad. "Man, that ******* buys my baby and the first thing he does is tip it over."
Fortunately, it'd seen a few drops already, so it was no worse after my drop than it was before my drop, and with 83k (at the time, now almost 87k) miles on it, I figure it should have some scratches to show it was loved anyway. Though I still haven't put it back up on the center stand...and am secretly afraid to.
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ionbeam
2 FUN
FJRTom did tell you that you should be sitting on the bike when you take it off the center stand, right? And, you were sitting on it, right? And, FJRTom did offer to help keep the bike stable as it came off the center stand? (See, it's all FJRTom's fault
).palerider
Well-known member
Your secret is safe with us.Though I still haven't put it back up on the center stand...and am secretly afraid to.
Goodman4
Pressing on
What a great story! Had you already paid for it? It would have been priceless to say something like, "I think I'm gonna need a discount from those new scratches."My only drop so far had to have been perhaps one of the most embarrassing ways possible. I flew out to Phoenix to buy FJRTom's '08 and he had it parked in his hangar on the center stand. As I'm taking it down off the center stand, I -completely- mis-judge the weight of the bike and it falls away from me...right in front of him.
I felt so bad. "Man, that ******* buys my baby and the first thing he does is tip it over."
Fortunately, it'd seen a few drops already, so it was no worse after my drop than it was before my drop, and with 83k (at the time, now almost 87k) miles on it, I figure it should have some scratches to show it was loved anyway. Though I still haven't put it back up on the center stand...and am secretly afraid to.
jeallenjr
Member
Felt like a fool today, got gas before a ride, pulled the receipt out and tossed it towards the trash can while sitting on the bike, missed, so I got off the bike and guess what? I forgot I had put the kickstand up and the bike dumped to the left. At a filling station at a 4 way stop, felt like a fool. Grabbed the bike and picked it. Messed up the paint on the left mirror and scratched up the side bag, made me so sick I almost went back home.
Goodman4
Pressing on
Sorry you joined the club. My friend rode his Victory all the way to Sturgis from Western Kentucky and when he got there he did the same thing you did. I think it ruined the whole trip for him. Hope you don't let it get you down.
palerider
Well-known member
FJRMGM
FJRMGM
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2005
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gravity always wins and welcome to the club.
once this big heavy unit gets to a certain lean angle even The Terminator can't save it! Best you can hope is you don't get caught under it.
once this big heavy unit gets to a certain lean angle even The Terminator can't save it! Best you can hope is you don't get caught under it.
